Top of the Hill Bakery History

Top of the Hill Bakery opened its doors in May of 2003, but our story actually begins much earlier with Margaret.

The year was 1984, Margaret was working at a restaurant on Bank St called Fettucini’s, which has survived as a small take away spot on Elgin St with the same name. The owner was Lucio Jabar, and there were a couple of brothers who were bus boys/waiters who went on to open the very successful Vitoria Trattoria chain of local restaurants.

Margaret was making desserts for Fettucini’s, then went on her own in 1986, launching Cakewalk. Originally, she had a deal with Lucio and used some of his kitchen space, but later moved to the kitchen of a boutique grocer and caterer’s called McCreary’s on McCreary St in Ottawa (New Edinburgh section of town). In 1988, business outgrew the space, so she then had a commercial condo outfitted on Baxter St in a more industrial part of the city. This had about 1500 sq. ft. of space, and she had up to 5 employees there.

In 1993, Margaret hired John after he moved from Montreal to Ottawa with his girlfriend Marie-Andree. John and Marie-Andree’s intent was to spend the summer in Ottawa before continuing on their journey west, but during that summer John became the head baker for Cakewalk.

With John’s help business was booming. John asked Marie-Andree to step in and help, and in the coming months they decided to purchase Cakewalk, which they continued to run for the next 10 years. Throughout this time there was a huge demand for Cakewalk to open a retail shop, and thus Top of the Hill Bakery was born.

After 6 years of running the bakery, Marie-Andree and John decided it was time to move on and sold the business to Adam. When Adam took over as the new owner, he asked his schoolmate and good friend Jeff to join the team. Over the next 2 years, Adam and Jeff worked side-by-side keeping the name and quality of Top of the Hill Bakery running strong and continuously increasing their presence in the Ottawa area. In 2011, Jeff purchased the business from Adam and continues to run the bakery to this day. Top of the Hill Bakery has since won numerous awards for their cake decorating and chocolate desserts, and has become one of the best bakeries in the city. Look for Top of the Hill Bakery products in your area, as we are always expanding.

Top of the Hill Bakery is a name that the people of Orleans and across the Ottawa Valley trust for high quality products made from scratch. We are well known for our custom cakes, breads, desserts, and cheesecakes. We are still a wholesale cake and bread supplier, offering our famous cakes and breads to local restaurants, cafes, catering companies, and retail shops. We also create custom wedding, confirmation, graduation, anniversary, baby shower, and both stag and bridal shower cakes, as well as cakes for any other occasion. Having a custom made cake will add that little extra you need to your event, no matter how big or small.

It is a pleasure serving the people of Orleans, and those that come from all across Ottawa, to enjoy our bakery. As always, we offer a fresh product made on site, never frozen, and never from a mix. Stop by and say hello, we are always glad to see you!